Surviving
by Voxern
Summary: Follows a group as they fight to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. T for language. If I have enough Reviews may add a sequel.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own left 4 dead or left 4 dead 2**

But they are amazing =D

**Surviving**

Alex was tired. He had been tired for the past two weeks- those bastards never let up. How many battles had he been in now? It seemed he had been in at least twenty. He felt like he had been fighting for an eternity.

He looked down, staring at his Barrett 50. Cal sniper rifle. It had saved him many times, tearing the people in half with a single shot.

He caught himself- they weren't people. They were _**infected**_. That horrible virus…. Changing them in such grotesque ways- it made him shudder.

He was thinking about all of the "battles" he had been in. They were more like massacres of infected- until just recently. The survivors had, at first, banded together. Groups of fifty or more staked an area, and had claimed it their own. Alex had belonged to one of these groups, helping fight the infected off of his group's territory. Many times, the infected attacked in hordes and did not stop.

They would never stop- he understood this. But he didn't think they would have been able to destroy his **entire group. **He had heard their screams, their pleas for help. He felt for them, but he was not stupid. He wouldn't have left his sniping perch to help them, for he would have surely died.

He had stayed up there for three days, until the infected started to leave. When there was about one hundred left, he decided to make a break for it, running to a nearby alley.

This is where he was now, biding his time until he could leave this alley in secrecy, or muster up enough courage to take on the remaining infected by himself.

He hated waiting.


	2. Chapter 2

Gabe looked out over the rooftops, scanning for the infected. He had his trusty ak-47 shouldered; he didn't want to be caught off guard. This was one thing he had learned from his travels- many of his former companions had been taken out by a stroke of stupidity, deciding to put down their weapons before every last infected had been wiped out. They were usually grabbed by one of the small ones- the ones that laughed maniacally. Those laughs creeped him out- it creeped him out even more that they just jumped on you, intent on steering you into your doom.

He had seen many people killed by those fucking midgets, and wasn't about to be caught by one. He moved over the rooftops of the buildings, methodically shooting any infected he saw. He cleared his way to a door on a wall he had seen. He wasn't taking his chances up here; he could be grabbed by one of the ones with the long tongues and pulled to his doom.

He jiggled the handle of the door and to his grief, found that it was locked.

_Fuck it_, he thought.

He slammed the butt of his gun through the door, and heard crying on the other side of the door, followed by panicked moaning.

He looked down, seeing an angry female infected with glowing red eyes, raising her five inch claws, ready to swipe.

_Well, shit,_ he thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Ed had always had fun playing video games. He had also loved watching zombie movies.

That all changed now.

Running for his life was only fun in the games, not in real life. Fuck, he hated it in real life. But it had to be done, he wasn't ready to die. He readied his shotgun, and charged through a door which was bound to have infected on the other side.

It took about three seconds for him to realize what he was seeing. A single man, holding off at least a hundred infected. The weapon he was using looked like some type of sniper rifle, considering it only fired single shots, was able to tear a body in half with one shot, and had enough power to rip straight through ten infected and injure the eleventh.

Ed viewed this spectacle, and as he watched, he realized that he should be helping this guy. He took a second to survey his surroundings and decided to get on top of the building he had just come from. He ran through the door and started to climb the stairs until he got to a window, and hopped out to a fire escape. He looked down and started yelling obscenities at the infected, not that they'd understand- it just made him feel better.

About half of the infected turned instantly and began running at him, jumping straight up to the fire escape and running at him. He got ready, eyeing his shotgun. He would have to admit- it was sexy. An M1014 shotgun with a grip. It worked perfectly, and could take out up to five infected with a close range shot.

And so it did.

As the infected's bodies ripped in half, showering him in blood and gore, he laughed- not because he enjoyed this, but because of how much fun he had thought doing the exact same thing in a video game was. He continued shooting off his shotgun, unloading all the shells he had left.

He ran out of shells, and looked forward. He had three more zombies to kill, but one was different; it had one huge arm on its right, a smaller one dangling of to its left. He looked at its face- it was smashed and caked with blood; as if it had repeatedly head butted a wall. He pummeled the two normal zombies in the face using his gun as a club, and looked at the last one in the face.

It let out a yell, and ran at him. He was frozen in fear; he could not jump out of the way. Just as it got close to him, its face was completely blown off.

Ed let out a sigh of relief, as he looked down onto the street at the alley where the infected had previously been. The entrance was littered with the bodies of infected. A lone man stepped out with a sniper in his hands.

He waved up at Ed, and said one sentence, "Hello, my name is Alex, and I believe we just saved each other's asses."


	4. Chapter 4

Gabe backed away slowly out of fear, eying the frail infected. The type he was looking at- and pissing off- could tear people apart in seconds; one of his old survivor buddies was ripped to shreds just for looking at one the wrong way.

The infected continued her growling, until she finally went ape shit.

Seeing this infected running at him, he decided to make a break for it. He spun around, only to see one of the massive, hulk-like infected. It began to run at him, propelling itself along with its arms.

_Shit,_ he thought for the second time in ten seconds.

Ben had never really been a bad person. But a god damn apocalypse could bring out the best, and worst in people. He found that he was a natural thief, and had taken to looting stores for the thrill of it. He was in the middle of one of his looting sessions when he found a Molotov cocktail.

With a smirk, he thought im'a_ have some fun with this!_

As he grabbed his third bottle of whiskey from the bar counter, he heard an ear shattering screech. It sounded like it was coming from the roof of the building behind the store he was in. Before he could even decide whether to investigate this or not, he heard one of the mammoth infected.

That enough had made him want to run- his friend Dalton had been crushed by one when it launched a car into the air. He still wasn't completely over it.

He decided to go investigate, even if it would be the death of him. He readied his two M1911 colt pistols, and walked into the alley behind the liquor store.

As soon as he stepped out, he knew he had made a mistake.

Gabe jumped. He didn't even look over the edge of the building- he just took a leap of faith.

_What death could be worse than being smashed and shredded at the same time, anyways? _ He thought, as he plummeted to the ground.

The building had been five stories tall- he fell two then smashed his stomach into the railing of a fire escape, sending him flipping into a dumpster. His stomach felt like it was on fire, but there was no time to waste. He hopped out of the dumpster just in time to see the beast climbing down the wall, punching its fists into the wall to make spots for it to hold on to as it climbed. At the same time, he saw the pissed-off woman one running straight out a door down the alley.

At that exact second, a Hispanic man stepped out of the door to his side.

"FUCKING RUN!" Gabe exclaimed.

Ben took a second to process what the man with brown hair had said- until he looked down the alley. He looked the other way and followed the man as he ran through the back alleys of the city, dodging dumpsters and destroying infected with his ak-47. He turned a corner just out of Ben's view, and started screaming.

Gabe could only hope the Hispanic man was following him, as if he wasn't he was probably already dead. Shooting the infected as he ran, he rounded another corner and shot at yet another infected.

But this was an infected he hadn't seen before- it was wearing a hoody and sweat pants, crouching down and growling at him.

_Shoot first, ask questions later,_ he thought. Shooting at it, he realized this was no normal infected. It jumped with lightning speed at him and started clawing at his already burning stomach. The pain was unbearable, his started screaming helplessly.

As if a gift from God, the other man rounded the corner and kicked the infected off of him. He took the pistol in his right hand and shot the infected execution style.

"Thank you," Gabe managed to gasp as he rose from the ground.

"No time for thank-you's, we've gotta move bro!" The man took Gabe's arm around his shoulder and they entered the building to the side of them. The man took out a glass bottle and Gabe looked at him as if he was crazy, having one last drink before he died.

But to his surprise, the man lit the rag in the bottle on fire with his lighter and tossed it out the door. The bottle exploded into flames, engulfing both of the infected. The frail infected was burnt to a crisp, the massive infected had to have a few rounds from Gabe's rifle to the stomach before it went down.

Gabe smiled through the pain, "Well that was exciting!"


	5. Chapter 5

Ed climbed down the ladder of the fire escape, still shaking from his near-encounter with death. He looked over at the man he had almost died to save, Alex, and inspected him. He appeared to wear mostly camouflage, wearing camo pants, a camo jacket, a camo hat which was backwards, and a black t-shirt. He looked him over, realizing that besides the sniper rifle he had, he was virtually defenseless in close range combat.

Ed rummaged through the pack he had, tossing Alex a combat knife.

"It's saved me plenty of times, and I think you should carry it with you if we are going to try to survive this thing together," he said, "that is, if you want to travel with me."

Alex eyed the knife, respecting it as a token of friendship.

"I'll travel with you, but I'm not gunna slow down if you can't keep up." He snorted, looking the boy up and down. He looked about sixteen, wearing a DC cap, DC shoes, and DC shirt. This kid apparently like to skateboard, but those shoes weren't the kind you would want if you were running for your life.

"I'll be able to keep up no problem, man. By the way, my name's Edward, but you can call me Ed for short. Nice to meet you." Ed extended his hand, waiting for the man to take it.

Alex shook his hand, as more of an obligation than an actual interest in getting to know this kid.

He stared at Ed's shoes and finally said, "If we're going to get anywhere, we're at least going to have to get you sneakers. Those things look like they'd fall off at even a brisk walk."

Ed looked down at his shoes, wanting to object, but he knew Alex was right. He looked up and said "Alright, you have any places in mind?"

Alex looked down the street. There were many infected in front of it, but there was a mall. There was bound to be a shoe store in there.

"Looks like we're gunna have ourselves a shopping spree, kid."

Alex hated malls.


	6. Chapter 6

Ben flipped up the man's shirt, looking at the wound. It was just a few gashes, none of them too deep. He looked up at the man, trying to make small talk to keep him distracted from the pain he was bound to be in.

"So what's your name?" He asked.

The man, with a grunt, said "Gabe. The name's Gabe."

He was obviously in no mood to talk. "Alright, Gabe. I have a few first-aid kits here in my rucksack, but we will have to use them sparingly. I think this qualifies as an emergency, so I'll wrap up your wound." He opened up the kit, finding the gauze. He wrapped in around Gabe's stomach, hoping that it would heal soon.

As he finished, he gave Gabe a bottle of pain pills.

"You're going to need these when we start moving- that's gunna sting like a bitch."

Gabe nodded, looking at the pills in silence.

Ben inspected his new comrade, realizing he had everything he would have needed except for medical supplies. He was wearing a backpack which seemed to be stuffed full of a random assortment of ammo. He had fastened a make-shift strap to his back, and through it he had placed a baseball bat, no doubt for close encounters.

His clothing appeared moderately safe, wearing some Adidas running shoes, cargo pants, and a Midnight riders t-shirt underneath a thin hoody.

He looked at his own kit- a backpack full of pain pills and first aid kits. He also had a few cartridges of ammo for his Colts.

"Do you by any chance have ammo for a few M1911 Colts?" he asked.

Gabe looked at him, and then threw him his pack. "I don't really check what type it is, I just grabbed everything I could from the gun shop I broke into when things started to get bad. There should be some in there, help yourself."

Ben showed a look of appreciation, and then rummaged through the pack, finding six more full magazines of ammo. "This should do quite nicely." He said with a grin.

"Do you have any places in mind, as far as evacuation go?" Ben asked Gabe, while cleaning his pistols.

"I heard that at the top of the mall a small group was evacuating people from the roof of the New Grotto mall. That's where I was headed, looks like no other choice. The army bombed all the on and off ramps to the highway, so we have no way off of New Grotto."

Ben cursed their luck, why did he have to move to an island town? The city of New Grotto was on an island just off the coast of Washington. The city had grown quite rapidly, as it had good fishing potential. Sadly, the military had blockaded all of the entrances to the harbor in hopes of stopping the spread of the infection. It had started in the northeast, worked its way south, and headed west. Ben knew there was no hope of stopping the spread of it, he just wanted to get away from it.

"Alright, what are we waiting for? We've got a walk ahead of us." Ben opened the door talking a step outside. He looked to his left and his right. _Clear_, he thought, and started walking. Gabe started behind him, and they were off.

He just didn't know, would there still be people at the mall?


	7. Chapter 7

Ed was unloading his shotgun, enjoying every blast. He and Alex had started in the general direction of the mall, destroying all of the infected on the way. While they had been heading there, they heard a broadcast from a radio store window.

_This is a broadcast on all AM frequencies. If you are a survivor in the city of New Grotto, please head to the New Grotto mall for evacuation. As of 12:00 AM, we are leaving our encampment because we are being overrun._

That had been at 8:00 PM. It was now 9:00, and he could tell Alex had been getting worried.

_When I get out of this, I will never play another zombie game again,_ he thought. He reloaded his shotgun, blowing away three more infected. He saw Alex destroy one of the infected that pounced with a shot of his Barrett. He proceeded to pull out his combat knife, decapitating an infected that got close.

Ed focused on the infected charging him again. As they walked down the street, methodically picking off the infected, they heard a deep moan. It sounded like it was more of a gurgle, a deep sound that came from the bowels. Just before he could ask aloud what it was, he saw the cause of the sound.

A morbidly obese infected turned the corner they were about to pass, running directly at him. He panicked and shot, causing the infected to explode. Its body spewed a thick green bile and chunks of skin on him, reducing him to the point of tears- almost making him vomit. That was not the worst of his troubles, because the entire horde seemed to be attracted to him.

"What the fuck did that fat ass do? Is this vomit, or some kind of acid?!" He yelled over the frenzied shrieks of infected.

"I think it's just bodily fluids. They seem to like it, but I got you, don't worry. Get in a corner and hit any that come close." Alex instructed.

Ed proceeded to do what he was told, until the bile had drained completely off of him. With all of the infected dead, they kept going down the street. They had finally made it to the door of the mall, when they heard an explosion.

Gabe took point, shouldering his trusty AK for the hundredth time this week. He saw a door that led into the building next to them from the alley, and proceeded toward it. As he opened the door, he saw one of the midgets that laughed. He popped off three shots, silencing its laughs forever.

Ben followed closely behind, covering their rear. They made their way up the stairs, finding that there was no access point to the roof. They decided to clear their own way, so Gabe grabbed an axe and got to work on the roof while Ben covered the door they had come through. After about ten minutes, they were through. As soon as the stepped onto the roof, they heard something hacking and wheezing. They looked over just in time to see the infected with a long tongue wrap it around Ben's ankle, pulling him towards the ledge of the roof.

"Son of a bitch, shoot this thing! It's got my ankle!" Ben screamed. He was pulled off and over, but managed to hang on to the edge of the roof.

Gabe ran to the edge, shooting at the infected. It got hit in the shoulder and released him. It turned and ran into a building that was near it. With that immediate danger stopped, Gabe went to help up Ben, but as he grabbed his hand, a female infected that was missing her jaw appeared on the roof opposite them. She spit a green, bubbling substance in their direction, land right on Ben's fingers as they grasped for dear life. He screamed, feeling his fingers burning. He let go, falling to the ground below them.

He was dazed, but alright. He had only fallen two stories, and was able to recover quickly. As he looked around, he heard Gabe yell down.

"Dude, hurry the fuck up and get back up here, a bunch of the infected are coming- they were alerted by your screaming!" he yelled in a panic.

Ben nodded and ran back through the house and climbed through the hole, realizing he was not as good as he had originally thought. He looked at his fingers- they were raw and bleeding. With the adrenaline coursing through him, he was able to pull himself up through just to see Gabe surrounded by a pile of dead infected. He laughed, and said "Thanks for the help man."

Gabe looked at him. "No problem, sorry I couldn't get you up sooner. You alright?"

"My fingers are raw from the acid, but it will have to wait." He replied.

They continued along the roofs, being quiet and trying not to alert any infected. They saw the infected with the long tongue huddled behind a car, nursing its wound. Ben stepped up, and yelled out "Payback's a bitch, ain't it?" He grabbed Gabe's AK from his hands and shot the infected so much that it was cut in half. In the process, he had hit the car and the alarm went off.

He looked down the street- a huge horde was running directly at them. He handed Gabe back his AK-47 and went through his rucksack, coming out with a bomb he had found in a house on one of his looting sessions.

"They're attracted to loud sounds and lights- with this smoke alarm attached to this bomb, the smoke from the fuse will set it off. They'll run at it and get destroyed by it." He said this with a grin, as He lit it and threw it at the car.

Just as the infected got close, the bomb exploded. They were all ripped apart either by the explosion or by the shrapnel from the exploding car.

Gabe was dumbfounded, but Ben just laughed.

"THAT'S how you get shit done."


	8. Chapter 8

Alex looked to his right, in the direction of the explosion. He saw two figures on the roofs off in the distance- they were probably just more infected. He opened the front door to the mall, marveling at the amount of zombies in here. This was going to be one helluva fight. They quickly ran to the side, hiding behind a palm tree.

"Get your gun ready, we've got company." He whispered to Ed.

He nodded back, cocking his shotgun.

Alex saw one of the "special" infected on the floor above them. It was the type with a huge arm on the right and a little one on the left.

_We've gotta start naming these things for combat situations,_ he thought.

"There's a bull up there." He said to Ed quietly.

"A what?"

"A bull, the ones that run at you. We need to start naming the types of infected that are stronger than the others." He explained.

"Oh, alright. But we gotta do that later, we've got shit to kill." Ed said with a grin.

Alex aimed his rifle, and blew off the Bull's head. The infected reacted quickly, sprinting at them. The two had grown used to this, obliterating them with ease. Once it was clear he heard panting from behind him. He spun around, just in time to see two men run up behind them.

Gabe shimmied down the pipe on the side of the building, with Ben in tow.

"We're almost there, just a few more blocks to go," Gabe said, "And thank god."

Ben looked down the street, ready to get out of this hell hole.

The two started walking down the street, when they heard a huge rumbling. They looked to the left, just in time to see what was coming.

"Mammoth!" Ben yelled, his eyes wide with fear. The two sprinted down the road, hoping they could find shelter in the mall, but to their dismay, they heard fighting already going on in the mall.

_I hope to God these are some of the __**sane**__ survivors, _Gabe thought.

"Fuck it man, we gotta go in, we can't stay out here with this thing." Ben said. Gabe agreed, and they jogged in, just in time to see two other survivors finish off the last four infected. They were out of breath, and tried to explain the situation to the other two men.

While breathing heavily, Ben said "There's a mammoth infected out there, and he was following us. I think if you guys want to live you should help us kill it."

The older man nodded in agreement, but the teen looked scared- he had probably not seen this type of infected yet.

Ben looked through his bag. "I'm out of Molotov's, any ideas?"

They looked around, and finally the teen said "Let's just shoot the fuck out of it."

Gabe smiled, "sounds good to me." They positioned benches, as a sort of firing line, and waited, watching the door. The anticipation mounting, Gabe could hardly help but to break a sweat. He licked his lips, readied his gun and-

A car flew through the front door, making them scatter. Ed ran to a nearby shop, positioning himself so he could shoot through the window. Ben did the same on the store opposite him. Gabe and Alex ran up to the escalators, climbing to the second floor and looking down. They began firing on the mammoth, while Ben and Ed waited until it passed them.

The mammoth roared, and ripped a slab of concrete out of the ground. He launched it at Gabe and Alex, while they ran back through the mall, the mammoth in tow.

Meanwhile, Ed and Ben started to chase the mammoth. As they climbed the escalator, the infected with a long tongue grabbed Ed. "Frog's got me!" he yelled, clawing at the ground. Ben turned to help him and almost froze at what he saw.

There was at least one of every "special" infected coming through the front door of the mall: two of the pouncing ones, two bulls, a midget, two frogs, three of the exploding ones, and one of the spitting ones.

Ben shot the Frog that had Ed, and yelled at him to keep moving, telling him not to look back. They got to the top of the escalator, watching Alex put the final shot on the mammoth.

"What took you two so long?" Alex asked as they reloaded their guns.

Ben replied, "You don't want to know, but we've gotta keep moving. Let's go!"


	9. Chapter 9

While they ran, Ben explained the situation to the rest of the survivors.

" I saw at least five of the strong infected coming through the door of the mall- we have got to make it to the roof ASAP." He said, looking over his shoulder.

Gabe aimed his rifle around a corner, picking off five infected. "Alright guys, we need to find a map of this place. Any ideas?"

Ed looked into a candle shop, shooting the infected in it. He narrowly missed destroying the computer that was on the desk.

_Computer, _he thought. "Guy's, I have an idea. Aren't all of the computers in these stores required to have a map of the mall? You know, for fire safety and stuff like that."

Alex looked at him- that was probably the most helpful thing he had said all day. "I think the kid's right, lets go into this candle shop and look through the computer."

Ben nodded. "Alright, but we've gotta make it quick, we have a bunch of infected on our asses."

Ed ran to the computer, searching over the desktop for anything that might resemble a map.

Gabe looked at him, thinking. "Alright guys, we've gotta buy him some time. Ben cover the door with me. Old man, watch the emergency exit.."

Alex looked at him, as he moved into position. "My name is Alex, and I am not old. I am forty-five."

Gabe looked at him. "Whatever. I'm Gabe, and this is Ben."

"My name's Ed." Ed piped up.

Alex looked at him. "Get back to work, we've gotta get out of here quick. Anybody got the time?"

Ed looked at the bottom right of the computer. "Its 10:53, we have about an hour." As he searched through the computer's files, he heard a loud screech.

Ben looked through the shop's window. "We've got two Lemurs, a frog, and a bull."

Alex looked at him, a puzzled look on his face. "The pouncing ones." As he said this, a bull charged through the emergency exit, taking Alex with him out of the shop, into the open.

Gabe began shooting the Frog, those things could get annoying. It took him an entire clip- that bastard was pretty far. Hearing a puff of smoke, he was satisfied that he had killed it and turned to help Alex. The Bull was repeatedly picking him up and smashing him into the ground.

Ben looked on the ground, seeing Alex's rifle laying on the ground. He picked it up, shooting the Bull in its back.

All Alex could see was that the Bulls chest was exploded outwards, but that was all he needed. He began to crawl away, pulling out his combat knife in case one of the lemurs got close. Satisfied with his position behind a fountain, he began to call out positions to Ben and Gabe.

" Gabe, the other Bull is coming from behind you!" he yelled out.

Gabe turned around, shooting the Bull as it charged at him. It stumbled forward, trying to at least punch him before it died. He shot it once more, and with a grunt it fell over, dead at last.

Ben threw Alex his sniper, pulling out his Colts. He scanned the roof of the mall- there were many hanging lights the lemurs could be hanging on.

Just then, Ed yelled out " I found it! I'm printing it, it should be done in a bit it's a pretty big map. Timer says thirty sec- OOF! " As he was finishing his sentence, one of the lemurs pounced him. It started to attack him, but he managed to hold it back with his shotgun. "Guys, shoot this thing off of me!"

Ben ran over, unloading his left pistol on the lemur. It fell over dead, and Ed got up.

"Alright it's done, I'm getting the map. Gabe, you've got to help out Alex." Ed said.

Gabe nodded, grabbing Alex's arm and pulling him upwards. "You alright?" He asked.

Alex looked himself over "Just a few bruises." He replied.

Ed went through the emergency exit, revealing a long hallway that went behind all of the stores.

"What is this place?" Ben asked.

"It's where you're supposed to go in case of a fire." Gabe replied.

"Alright, apparently if we head all the way down this hallway there will be stairs leading to the roof. Let's get going, I can't wait to be safe." Ed said, looking over the map.

They proceeded moving down the hall, until they heard gurgling.

"Damn it, not one of those again." Ed complained.

"One of what's?" Ben asked.

"They're fat infected that explode when shot, and they shower you in a bile. The infected run to it like a fat kid runs to cake." Ed replied.

"Oh, well what do you guys call them?" Ben asked, checking their rear.

"How 'bout whales?" Alex said.

Ed nodded, and they continued towards the staircase, which happened to be where the gurgling was coming from. He looked up, only to be vomited on by a Whale. He looked up and shot the infected with his shotgun. "Fucker," he added, wiping away the bile from his eyes and mouth, "didn't know they like to up-chuck on you too."

They looked down the hallway- a horde the likes they had never seen was rushing them. It included the rest of the special infected they had not yet killed- two lemurs, two Whales, a midget, and a frog. Instantly, Alex shot one of the Whales, making the infected round it scatter from the explosion.

Gabe looked over the horde, "That bought us some time but we've gotta move if we want to make it. Anyone got the time?"

Ben looked at his wristwatch, a panicked look coming over his face. "We only have five minutes!"

The group climbed the stairs, shooting the infected that got close. They busted through the door to the roof, and saw a group of survivors, about seven, getting into a modified bus.

" Wait for us!" Gabe yelled, as they tore across the roof towards the bus. The last man getting onto the bus looked at them, and looked past them at the horde following them. With a look of panic in his eyes, he shut the door of the bus, and it started moving towards a makeshift ramp that the survivors had probably made just that morning. It drove down it on to the road, its horn blaring, trying to attract all the infected in the area.

"Those sons of bitches!" Alex yelled, "They're attracting the horde to us so they'll have an easy ride out of here!

A look of defeat washed over Ed's face.

Alex looked at him, his face full of confidence. "Don't worry, we're not dead yet."


	10. Chapter 10

Gabe weighed their options, and as he saw it there were only two. They could make their last stand on the roof against the horde, or run down the ramp onto the street and hope they managed to escape.

The rest of the group looked at him expectantly, and he made his decision. "Guy's, come on, let's go!" He yelled, as he sprinted towards the ramp. A frog grabbed him by his pack, almost pulling him off of the building while he ran. Ben popped off seven shots, making the infected stumble. It managed one last jerk of its tongue, taking Gabe's pack with it. "There goes my ammo stash." He said, as he jumped off the roof onto the ramp. With the rest of the group in tow, he sprinted down the ramp, picking off infected that were running up the ramp towards them.

Ben was directly behind him, followed by Alex, with Ed last in line. Ed was worried because he knew he would be the first to get caught by the infected if the situation went to shit. _Well, goes more to shit. _He thought, _it can't get much worse than this._

Ben looked ahead of Gabe, looking for anything that could aid the group. He looked around desperately, aware the infected could run much faster than them. "We need to get somewhere we can hold them off safely; we can't outrun them for long!" He yelled.

Alex looked forward, his eyes landing on a hunting shop ahead of them. "That hunting shop will have to do guy's, there's not much of a choice as I see it." He said, face as calm as ever.

Gabe nodded in approval, changing his course to move towards the shop. As he looked forward, he noticed that the front door was barricaded, with the windows around it barricaded as well.

"The front is barricaded, we'll have to go around back!" he yelled over the screaming of the infected. He heard Ed's shotgun start unloading, and turned in time to see a Lemur's dead body flying through the air. _That kid can shoot,_ he thought.

As they went into the alley behind the shop, they realized there was no back entrance.

"Well fuck," Ben said with anger in his voice, "just fuckin' peachy."

"Don't worry, we can set up a firing line at the end of the alley and pick em' off as they come," Alex stated. They got to the end, turned around, and started unloading on the infected. Ben aimed low, hitting them in the knees, making them fall forward. Alex aimed for the chest, his 50. Caliber rounds ripping through the infected like butter. Gabe aimed high, watching the roofs. He was picking his shots, aiming mostly for the special infected.

_Seventy-seven, Seventy-eight_ Ed counted, as his shotgun decimated its seventy ninth infected in the past three minutes. "When the hell are they gunna stop? How many fucking infected can there be in one city?" he asked over the roar of the guns.

"Just keep firing, we're almost done." Alex replied, as his Barret made a _click._ _Shit, no ammo, _he thought. As he was thinking this, Gabe yelled out "Guy's I'm outta ammo! I'm gunna use my baseball bat on any that get close."

"Great, I'm out of ammo too," Alex replied, "I'm going to use my knife. Ed, Ben- how you guys doing on ammo?"

Ben checked his belt. "I have three mags left. Running low, we're gunna have to end this thing soon. Ed, how you doing?"

"I have seventeen shells left."

"Shit, conserve your ammo guys. We need to use it on specials only. You two will just have to find something to beat common infected off of you with when they get close." Gabe said.

Ben nodded, picking up a nightstick from a fallen police officer. Ed looked to his side and grabbed a frying pan out of the dumpster they were near.

Alex looked ahead, thinking."I think we've cleared out enough to where we can move. We need to find somewhere we can rest, I'm about to collapse from lack of sleep."

They ran down the alley back into the street. As he smacked an infected in the head with his frying pan, Ed saw an apartment building. "Guy's, there's bound to be a room somebody built up to survive in. You know, like a safe house."

Alex stared at him. First the computer idea, now this. "Why couldn't you have been so helpful when it was just me and you?"

Ed smirked, and they walked into the front of the building. They looked up, seeing the building had about seven floors.

"Guys, we need to split up if we're going to find a safe room in this place. It's massive." Ben said.

Alex nodded, and they each got with their own partner. It was decided that Gabe and Ben will check the top floor fours, Alex and Ed would check the bottom three.

"If you find something, yell." Gabe instructed.

They set off up the stairs, walking down the long hallways. Gabe looked into every room, not only checking to see if it was a good holdout, but also for supplies. They had reached the seventh floor, as he saw a room with a door reinforced with steel bars. He walked inside- it had huge windows, but it would have to do.

"Ben, I think I've found some-"As he said this, he heard a yelp, then a roar. He saw a Bull carrying Ben through the doors, straight towards the big windows.

"No!" Gabe yelled, as he lifted his baseball bat.

But it was already too late.


	11. Chapter 11

_Pain, he_ thought. _Bad pain. I… I shouldn't be alive._

He tried to move his head- he couldn't. His arms and legs were hurting bad… but it was like a ghost pain. He felt it, but did not feel it.

_Just how fucked up am I?_

_**30 Seconds Later**_

Gabe stared at the window in disbelief. He stood there for a minute_, _in remembrance of his fallen comrade. He shook himself out of it. _I still have to get out of here; __**we**__ still have to get out of here._

That brought him back. He ran to the stairwell and looked over the railing, calling down.

"Ed, Alex- get up to the seventh floor. We have to talk."

Ed walked into his view. "Alright, we'll be right up."

_**30 minutes later**_

They knew. Gabe had told them what happened, but they couldn't believe it. They stared at the broken glass of the window, half in pity, and half in disgust.

"Those fuckin' infected. Now this is personal." Ed said, trying to hide his grief by acting tough. "They're all going to pay, every single one of them."

"Son, no matter what you do, he is not coming back. Get some sleep; we still have to make it off of this island." Alex stated.

Gabe looked at him. Usually, he kept his cool in battles, which was a good thing. But he showed no emotion for Ben. _Everybody handles these things differently,_ he thought. He stood up and made sure the door was securely locked. "I've got first watch; you guys get some shut eye. We have a long day ahead of us.

_**3 Hours Later**_

Ben's vision was fuzzy. He had been in and out of consciousness for the past few hours. He looked around, and finally realized why he wasn't being finished off by the infected.

The Bull's body was lying on top of him.

The pain came on him like a wave, from his legs to his head. A burning sensation, all the way from his feet to his head. The pain was unbearable, he was burning on the inside.

He screamed muffled screams to try to attract the infected. He wanted, and would do anything, to end his life.

To end his pain.

To end his suffering.

_**The Next Morning **_

The remaining survivors looked throughout the safe-room. They managed to find one of Ben's old pistols, a mini-Uzi with a few cartridges of ammo, another baseball bat, and a W1200 pump shotgun.

Gabe took Ben's pistol, Alex the mini-Uzi, and Ed the rest. They opened the door and started down the stairs, discussing their next plan of action.

"We could try to break into one of the harbors, get a boat, and get to the mainland. The infection is surely there, but I believe we would be safer if we went to rural Canada. We could live there until the infection has died down- what do you guys think?" Gabe said.

As they walked out of the building, they saw a Whale. They killed it without it even getting close, thinking nothing of it. They also saw a Bull's body, but did not make the connection. They continued walking, the infected attacking the Bull's body. They decided not to waste ammo and keep moving.

With no objections, the plan was set. They were going to go to New Grotto's northern-most harbor; King's Landing, and procure themselves a boat. They started along the street again- there just wasn't a sense of normalcy without Ben. They trudged on, decimating the infected. Gabe was still getting used to his new-found pistol, while Alex was using his new mini-Uzi. Ed was right at home, blowing the infected away with his shotgun. They walked for about two miles, and decided to take a rest in a police station that only had one entrance and was easy to cover.

"Fifteen minutes, then we have to go." Gabe said.

_**2 hours ago**_

The infected had still not found him. He wondered when it would be over, when he would be free. He heard a sickening gurgling sound, and was sure a whale had spotted him. He felt a hot, sticky substance spewed on him and he smiled.

As he was stomped to the ground by infected, he was still smiling, feeling the warm embrace of death wash over him.

He was free.


	12. Chapter 12

Gabe cocked his pistol, opened the front door, and they were off. It was around noon, and the survivors wanted to cover as much ground as they could while they were still in daylight- fighting the infected in the daylight was a lot easier.

"Alright guys, we're going to stop by a gas station." Gabe said as they walked down the street.

"Why? I thought we already knew where we are heading." Ed queried.

Gabe shot an infected that rushed him in the head- he was starting to see why Ben liked the pistol he used. The mobility was so much more than that of his old AK-47, and he could fire while still having a free hand. "We need a map to find the quickest possible way there. You know, like shortcuts through alleys and stuff like that. I think it would make our trip a lot shorter. I saw a gas station from the roofs I was on when I was alone, before I met Ben- I think we should head there, then start going north."

Alex thought for a moment, and then added his two-cents. "I think we should try to find a vehicle if possible. We're at the heart of the island- it's going to be at least a seven hour walk to the north. I'd feel a lot safer in say, a jeep or something."

Gabe nodded. "Alright, we'll look for a vehicle while we're there. There's bound to be one near it, it's a gas station after all." They continued along the street, coming to the hunting shop they had passed the night before. Ed stopped, peeking through the barricades inside.

"Holy shit, you see all those guns? We could be a three man army!" he exclaimed. Alex looked inside, staring at the massive pile of ammo behind the counter.

"Gabe, I think it would be worth our while. What about you?" he asked.

Gabe looked in, whistling. "Shit, I don't think we have a choice. We're running low on ammo anyways. Alex, let's get to work on the barricade. Ed, watch our backs." Ed nodded, pumping his shotgun.

Twenty minutes later, most of the barricade that was on the outside of the shop was removed. They still had to get through the barricade that was on the inside too. _This is taking too long, but we have to do it, _Gabe thought. As he opened the door into the shop to start removing the inside barricades, the alarm of the store sounded.

"Damn. Alright, backs to the wall guys. I've got the left, Alex get the right. Ed, watch the front." Gabe instructed. The pair nodded, and waited for the coming horde.

Ed couldn't even hear himself think between the blaring alarm and the frenzied shrieks of the infected. His body went on to autopilot, shooting anything that moved. He thought he heard Alex yell out something, but he couldn't tell, and he didn't care. This was just too much fuckin' fun.

_Fuck, I'm a monster. How can I find this fun? I've gotta work on that,_ he thought. He unloaded the rest of his shells into an approaching infected, when a Midget jumped down onto his back. "Guys, I think it's humping me! Get it the fuck off!" Ed yelled, as the Midget steered him into the horde.

Alex looked for him, but he honestly could not find him in the sea of infected. "Gabe, I think we have a problem, a Midget got Ed." He said, with his signature stone-cold face.

Gabe acknowledged his comment, and saw Ed lying on the floor, writhing in pain. _He must have just had the shit kicked out of him- he'll have to deal with the pain. We lost all of our medical supplies when Ben was killed, _he thought as he fired nine rounds at the infected around Ed. As he and Alex cleared the infected around him, they realized the extent of his injuries.

His arm was bent at an unnatural angle; it had to have been broken when the infected mauled him.

"Holy shit guys, my arm is NOT supposed to do that! What the fuck! What do I do?" He asked with desperation, fear in his eyes.

Alex inspected the break. Maybe being a marine was finally paying off.

"It looks like a clean break- we'll have to snap it into place and make a splint for it." He concluded, helping Ed up gingerly.

"That sounds like it's going to hurt…" he said, unaware of how true the statement he just said was.

_**15 Minutes Later**_

"Ready?" Alex asked.

They had removed the barricades in the hunting shop to find a single common infected behind the counter.

It_ was a shame the man did all the work to protect himself while he was already infected_, Alex thought.

They had discovered another safe room in the back of the shop, complete with two first aid kits and a bottle of pain pills. They had found all the necessary components of a basic splint in one of the kits, and were ready to reset Ed's arm.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

_**Crack**_

"HOLY SHIT!"


	13. Chapter 13

"Should we try to wake him up?" Gabe asked, as Alex placed Ed on a couch. They had set his arm four hours earlier, and he had passed out from the pain. He was still not up.

"Before we try, I need to talk to you about something." Alex said, as he stared in Ed's general direction.

"Okay, what is it? Can it wait?" He asked.

"No, I think it's pretty urgent. Being in a mob like that couldn't have been good for him. I think we should look him over for bites or scratches, anything that could have spread the infection." Alex stated, still staring at Ed.

"Um, okay… but even if he is infected, we can't just leave him here, man. He's still a kid you know."

"He could also be an infected."

Gabe looked down, knowing he was right. They proceeded to look over Ed's body, finding three bites- one on each leg, and a third on his right shoulder.

"Shit." said Gabe.

"We should get this over with before he wakes up, I really don't want to have to do it to him while he's conscious." Alex said.

Gabe nodded, handed Alex his pistol and turned away, sitting with his back to the two other men.

The sound of a single gunshot rang throughout New Grotto.

_**2 Hours Later**_

Alex walked out into the cool night air. He looked left and right and found that, surprisingly, there were no infected to be seen. He nodded to Gabe, and they set out.

Gabe took point, leading Alex to the gas station he had seen yesterday.

_Shit, that was only yesterday. So much can happen in one day…._ He thought, as they turned the street corner. They moved slowly, making sure the area was safe. Finally, the gas station came into view. They took cover behind a bush, surveying the area.

They saw two other survivors walking towards the gas station, probably looking for supplies. Before they could even call out to the woman and the man, a gunshot rang out from the gas station's roof.

"Oliver!" the young woman called out.

The man's body made a sickening thud on the ground, and blood began to pool around it. Alex couldn't comprehend what he had just seen, until a male figure appeared on top of the roof of the gas station.

"This world has no more laws, lady. This is **my** gas station, no-one else's. Get the fuck off my property. You know what- I'll help ya'." The crazed man yelled out.

He shouldered his rifle and shot at the woman, hitting her in the legs. To Gabe's horror, the man got back inside of the fortified gas station and left the woman for dead. Infected from all around the station converged on her, angered by the man's rifle shots.

They could only watch as she was beaten to death. Gabe almost threw up, but stopped himself so they would not be discovered. "Holy shit," he whispered, "That guy's a fucking lunatic."

Alex nodded, and started walking towards the station.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Gabe hissed, but Alex just shushed him.

He saw the male figure reappear on the roof.

"Did you not see what I did to them? I will _**KILL**_ you." The man said.

Alex nodded, and began to speak slowly and softly. "Why? What have I done to you?"

Gabe began to see Alex's plan. As the two men conversed, he slowly walked along the edge of the building, outside of the man's field of vision. As he reached the door, something must have gone wrong. He heared the man's rifle fire.

_Shit,_ he thought. He busted through the man's barricade with his baseball bat and saw the stand of maps. As he got a map of the island, the man came down the ladder.

"What the hell?" The man was puzzled, and before he could even react, Gabe raised his pistol and shot him five times directly into the chest. The lunatic coughed up blood and fell to the ground, shaking. Gabe searched his body, grabbing his M16A4 and seven rounds of ammunition for it. He also grabbed his key ring, there was bound to be a car key on it.

"That was for Oliver and that chick." He said, as he walked back outside.

_Shit, I hope Alex is alright._

_**1 Minute Ago**_

"Do you really need to do this?" Alex asked, as he started edging towards a nearby parked car.

"Yes." The man said, and he squeezed the trigger.

Alex felt the impact, as he jumped out of the way. He took cover behind the car, checking himself for wounds. He had been hit in the left shoulder, but it would have to wait. The infected were pissed again.

He raised his Uzi, mowing down the horde. He heard a _click_ and released the mag. He grabbed another from his belt and slammed it into the gun. _I could do this all day,_ he thought, as he sprayed down another mob of incoming infected. As his gun ran out of ammo, he heard Gabe firing his pistol on the horde. He looked over the hood of the car and saw him running, with keys in his hand towards him.

"Get in the passenger side; we just have to hope this is the car!"

He opened the door and climbed to the passenger side. He winced in pain as Gabe jumped in.

Gabe slammed the door and locked it, putting the key into the ignition. For the first time in a month, he prayed.

He heard the motor start, and slammed on the gas pedal.

They were off.


	14. Chapter 14

"Holy shit, that was close!" Gabe laughed. "I didn't think we would make it for a second there."

"We're not out yet, kid. By the way, that maniac shot me. The bullet went straight through my shoulder, so I won't have to remove it. But this is going to sting like a bitch." Alex said.

Gabe nodded. "Alright, we're on the final stretch. Patch yourself up and check our kit. We need to be ready for the fight."

Alex took their last first aid kit and found the gauze. He wrapped it around his shoulder, and when he was satisfied began to look through their weapons.

Alex's Uzi was out of ammo, but luckily Gabe had grabbed the lunatic's rifle, so that was what he was going to use. He looked over their ammo- he had seven magazines for his M16, While Gabe had twelve mags for his pistol. Gabe's baseball bat was looking pretty beat up, but Ed's knife was still in working order.

"Alright, we're looking good on ammo, but we still need medical supplies. We have one bottle of pain pills, and I'll take em' when we're about to get out the car." Alex said.

Gabe acknowledged this comment, and took an off-ramp in the direction of the harbor.

They pulled up to a broken barricade that was overrun with infected.

"Holy shit, looks like we weren't the only people deciding to come to the harbor." Gabe said, as he examined the spectacle.

There was a group of five holding off the incoming horde, held up in an over-turned bus. Gabe realized the bus had driven head on into the barricade and flipped. The noise must have alerted every infected for at least a mile around. Gabe then noticed another thing.

"That's the group that left us for dead on the roof of the mall!" Gabe exclaimed, looking over the group. "Looks like they already lost two guys since we've seen them- serves em' right."

Alex nodded, and took a few pain pills. "We'll use them as a distraction, let's get moving." He said.

Gabe grabbed his pistol and threw Alex the rifle. He opened the door, sprinting towards a nearby boat that was on a trailer. Alex followed suit, and they discussed what their next plan of action should be. They heard the explosion of a Whale, and looked over at the other group. Four of them were covered in bile, leaving one man to defend them all.

Gabe recognized the man- it was the one who had shut the door in their face.

"I hope they all die…" Gabe said, as a bull carried one of the survivors out into the water.

"There's only four left, we've gotta get going." Alex said. Gabe nodded, and they started moving towards the harbor.

"So, how are we gunna get a boat? Do you happen to own one? "Gabe asked.

"I wish, we'll probably have to find a sailboat. They don't require gas or keys, so we'll be in good shape if we can find one." Alex said, as they walked over the harbor. Gabe looked out, seeing one in the distance.

"I didn't even think they still made those…" Gabe said, as they started running for the boat. Their escape was just in reach- he couldn't wait.

_**Other Group of Survivors(30 seconds Earlier)**_

"Exploding one!" Marshal yelled out, shooting it in a frenzy. It exploded over all of them except for Michael, who looked at him in disgust.

"God damn it Marshal- as if the fuckin' infected weren't bad enough!" He yelled, pissed at Marshal yet again. He just couldn't do anything right.

As he was thinking this, he heard one of the charging infected roar. He heard Marshal squeal, and saw it carry him off into the harbor.

_Shit, there goes another_ Michael thought, as it carried him into the water. _At least I don't have to worry about him fucking up again._

Michael looked at his comrades- they were in bad shape. Brad had a gash across his chest, while Jacob had lost the use of his left arm during the crash- he must've landed on it wrong. Kristi seemed to be the only other one of his comrades in good shape. They couldn't hold off the horde for much longer, and the infected showed no signs of stopping.

"Guy's, we have to go! Now!" He yelled out. It seemed that only Kristi heard him.

"OK lets go, but where to?" She asked, as she shot another infected with her G-18.

Michael looked over the harbor, seeing two figures sprinting across the boardwalk.

"Over there! Follow them!" He yelled, as he jumped out of the bus. He looked over just in time to see Brad get his throat slit by one of the pouncing infected. "Shit! Brad's down! Kristi, Jacob, let's go now!"

Jacob jumped out, followed by Kristi. He could hear Brad making awful gurgling noises, thrashing about on the bus. He finally settled and died- right on the bus's horn.

The horn's blaring only pissed the infected off more, and seemed to call even more to the scene. He saw a huge infected the likes of which he had never seen come from over the busted barricade, hitting the bus to make the noise stop. The bus flew over the group's head, landing in the water.

"Let's Move! Let's Move!" He kept yelling, as they ran. He saw the other two survivors boarding the boat, and he knew their window of opportunity was closing. He turned and took a shot with his M4, hitting the massive beast. He knew all he had really done was piss him off.

_**Gabe and Alex**_

Gabe looked over, seeing three people running down the boardwalk towards them. "Hurry! They're coming! We should leave them…..right? It's only fair." He said.

Alex looked at him as he pulled the sail of the boat down. "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, my friend."

Gabe nodded, and began to cover the other group's retreat. He saw they were being chased by a Mammoth, which was leading a massive horde. It took a swing, hitting the girl into the harbor. One of the guys yelled out in grief, turning and lighting the Mammoth up with his rifle. He held it awkwardly in his right hand, while his left arm laid limp at his side.

"Looks like they were close…" Alex said, walking towards the boat's wheel. "I'm gunna get this thing to start moving, it'll take awhile. There's barely a breeze."

Gabe nodded, seeing the man that was firing at the mammoth get smashed under one of its fists. The other man had been smart- he just kept running. Gabe began to push the boat off of the dock when the man jumped onto the boat. The Mammoth was too busy beating the man's body into the ground to care. They were far enough from the infected for them not to hurt them, but they could still hear their shrieks.

Gabe looked at their new companion, eyeing him suspiciously.

"What's your name?" Alex asked, as he looked out over the water.

"Michael. My name is Michael."


	15. Chapter 15

Gabe stared at Michael, not sure what to think of him. This was the man, after all, who was responsible for Ben and Ed's deaths. If they had waited for them to board the bus, they still might be alive. He decided he would put up with the man, but tell him to leave if he did anything that Gabe didn't like.

He watched Michael pace the floor of the boat, obviously the impatient type.

"So what is your plan?" he asked, looking at Alex.

"We're going to go to rural Canada, seems like the best bet. There probably wouldn't be many infected in an area like that. There may even be a refugee camp." Alex said, as he scanned the horizon.

Michael nodded, pleased with the plan. He went into the boat's cabin, coming out with a package of hotdogs and a few bottles of water. He took two hotdogs for himself and tossed Gabe the package.

"So what's your story? What's your name?" He asked, opening the bottle of water.

Gabe took a hotdog out of the packaging. He took a bite of it, and then began to speak. "My name is Gabe. Born and raised in Florida, heard New Grotto had some good opportunities in the technology business. Was just getting used to my life here when the shit hit the fan." He said.

Alex looked at him, and Gabe realized this was the first time he had heard his back-story.

Michael looked over at Alex. "What about you, devil dog? Whats your story?"

Alex looked at him. "My name is Alex. I have been in the marines for twenty seven years- I joined right out of high school. I have seen more of my friends die than I can remember- I'm used to death. But this… this shit is just not right. It's downright disgusting."

Michael nodded. Looking out at the water, he saw something in the distance. "Is that….. a _cruise ship?_" He asked in a stupor.

Gabe strained his eyes, scanning the horizon. "Holy shit, I think he's right! That cruise ship has a light on in the pilot's room. There must be people sailing it. Alex, there's bound to be people on there. We should go check it out."

Alex thought this over, looking at the ship." You know, we don't know who's on there. They could have infected aboard."

Michael looked at him. "I doubt it. They would have killed anyone that was infected- they wouldn't risk an entire group of people just to save one."

Gabe looked out at the ship. "I wonder if they allow carriers?" he asked.

"It's been two months since the first outbreak; anybody that is still alive is either immune or a carrier. I don't think it matters anymore." Alex stated. He continued, "Alright we'll go check it out. But if anything goes wrong, we're going to be the first ones on a life raft."

_**30 Minutes Later**_

Alex piloted the boat, guiding it towards the cruise ship. He made it horizontal with the ship, and told Gabe to go check it out.

Gabe nodded, and jump to the ship's ladder. As he was climbing, Alex yelled out.

"Don't forget this!" He tossed Gabe up his pistol. Gabe caught it and put it in his back pocket, just in case. He continued climbing until he reached the top of the ladder. He peered over the edge of the boat, and oddly enough, no-one was on the deck.

"Clear!" He yelled down. Michael jumped on to the ladder, with Alex following. They reached the top and looked around for any other survivors. They couldn't find any. Frustrated, Michael walked towards the part of the cruise ships with the rooms for travelers.

"We should check in here for people. There's bound to be someone. Besides, I think this is the way to the room where we saw the lights." He said.

Gabe agreed, and they walked inside. The hallways were dark, with no lights on inside. "This is creepy, man." Michael said. They kept walking down the hallway until they reached a stair set, leading upwards.

"I'll take point," Alex said. He shouldered his M16, motioning to the other two to do the same. Gabe raised his Colt, while Michael shouldered his M4. Alex crept up the staircase slowly, scanning the next floor. Deciding it was clear, he began to move into the hallway. Off in the distance, the group heard a loud, repeated banging.

"What the fuck is that?" Michael hissed. Gabe put his finger to his lips, motioning him to be quiet. They kept moving, making as little noise as possible. The three men looked around a corner, just to see a hallway filled with infected. They all had their backs turned to the group, running towards the room at the end of the hall.

"I think they're heading towards the room with the lights," Gabe whispered. "There might still be people alive in there. It would explain why the lights are on, and why the infected are so pissed."

Alex nodded, and turned to leave.

Gabe looked at him. "We can't just leave them, dude. Those are **people.** They need our help; we can't just leave them for dead."

Alex sighed and turned back around. "Alright, but if we start to lose the fight, we're bookin' it. I don't want to die for people I haven't even met." Gabe agreed, and they all turned the corner. The first infected to spot them was a Lemur.

"Lemur!" Gabe yelled. Alex shot it as it pounced towards Gabe. It made a thud on the ground, and Gabe thanked Alex.

"No problem, just keep shootin'." He said. The group of three fired on the hallway, shooting all of the infected. They heard shrieks from the back, and realized they were sandwiched.

"Fuck!" Michael yelled. "I've got the back, we have to push our way towards the pilot's room!"

Gabe heard this and started pushing forward. With most of the infected in front of them cleared, Alex turned to help Michael. They were getting overrun, and fast.

"Hurry the Fuck up!" Michael yelled.

Gabe heard this and kept moving, methodically shooting the remaining infected. When the last one dropped dead, he made a run for the door. He began to pound on it, trying to get the survivor's inside attention. "Anyone in there? If you are, please let us in! We attempted to help you but didn't know there were more infected, we're being overrun!"

To Gabe's relief, the door's lock clicked. He opened the door and beckoned his two friends inside. Once they were in, he shut the door and locked it. "Oh my God, that was close. I thought we were fucked." Michael said.

Alex looked at him, and looked to the new survivors. There were three others. A younger woman, a man in scrubs, and a man in a convict's orange jumpsuit.

Michael looked at the man in scrubs. "What happened here?" he asked.

"When the infection first spread to New Grotto, the government allowed us to use this cruise ship as a safe haven. But, a few carriers made their way on too. Most of the population of the boat wasn't immune- they all fell ill. We tried to radio New Grotto, but they said the harbor was barricaded to stop the spread of the infection. Basically, they told us to go fuck ourselves. We three are the last survivors on the ship; we managed to make it up here before the horde overwhelmed us." He said.

Gabe nodded, looking the new group members over. "You have weapons?" He asked.

This time, the convict spoke. "Yeah, we got two pistols and a shotgun." He said.

Alex looked out the window of the room. "There's life rafts down there, right? We could make it to one of those and get to the mainland."

The man in scrubs spoke up, "I have an even better idea. There's a helicopter on the ship, on the helipad. It's for medical evacs, just in case this sort of thing happened. Unfortunately, that's where they held the "sick" passengers, so we couldn't get there first. I am a medical transporter- I could fly us out of here."

Gabe sat down, pulling the package of hotdogs out of his pocket. Taking a bite, he stared at the door. "Get ready for a fight, guys. This one's gunna be tough."


	16. Chapter 16

Gabe tossed the now-empty package of hotdogs on the ground."Alright you three- what are your names?"

The girl spoke first. "My name is Melissa." She walked over and grabbed one of the pistols.

The prisoner spoke next. "Name's Kobe. Don't let the jumpsuit intimidate ya'- I was in for theft. Nothin' more." He walked to the table, grabbing their shotgun.

The last man, the medical transporter, was the last to talk. "My name is Jeremy. Now, what are your names, and how the fuck do you propose we get off of this hell-hole?" He asked, as he grabbed the final pistol.

Michael cocked his M4. "I'm Michael, this here is Gabe, and the older man is Alex. We are going to blow our way the fuck out of here."

Gabe nodded. "Alright, we're going right back out the way we came. We'll run across the deck and get to the helicopter. Shouldn't be hard, if nothing goes wrong."

Alex nodded, and the group readied their weapons. Gabe mouthed to three.

_One_

_Two_

"Three!" He yelled. He opened the door and stood back. Kobe stepped up and mowed down the horde with his shotgun.

"Good to go!" He yelled. They began moving through the hallway, when Gabe heard an all-too-familiar gurgling noise.

"Whale!" It busted through the door and ran straight towards all six of them. Alex and Jeremy managed to get out of the way, but Michael shot at it, making it explode and showering Kobe, Melissa, and Gabe in bile.

"Son of a bitch, cover us!" Kobe yelled. Alex, Michael, and Jeremy got in front of the three. Shooting any infected that got close, they were forced to move into a room that they were near. Everything was going well, until a spitting infected turned the corner. "Acid coming!" Alex yelled.

The group managed to successfully avoid the spit, until Jeremy made a grim realization. "We're in the armory the military set up for defense! That acid is going to make it expl-"

An explosion cut him off. Michael felt a pain and was thrown back from the explosion. He looked down towards where the sharp pain had come from.

He was missing his left arm.

"Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!" He yelled. Gabe looked at him, but assessed the situation at hand first.

The explosion had made a hole straight through the boat, breaching the hull. Gabe had not even realized the worst of it though. The explosion's hole ripped the ground from under them, making Jeremy, Alex, and Melissa fall into the cargo hold below them. From the size of the hole the explosion had made, Gabe guessed they had to get to the helicopter in at least two minutes.

"We'll get up, don't worry. Get to the helicopter and secure the area for us!" Alex yelled up.

Gabe nodded and helped Michael up, giving him his pistol."I'll take your rifle, you can't use it anymore." Kobe, what the fuck are you doing? Get up we've got to move! We've gotta move dude let's go!" He yelled. That shook Kobe to his senses. Getting up from his knees, he tightened his grip on his shotgun and shot the spitting whore, smiling. He was glad she was dead.

Gabe led Kobe and Michael back the way they had come. As he got back to the staircase, he began to hear the repeated banging. _Seriously? What the fuck is that…._ He thought.

He wished he hadn't of thought that.

_**Alex, Jeremy, and Melissa**_

Alex took point, shooting the few infected that were in the hold. He hadn't expected many to be down here, there was no reason for them to be. He saw a service elevator, and began to lead the group towards it. They passed a huge container, and from the inside they heard a noise. Alex finally knew what the banging had been. A mammoth busted through the container, running straight for the wall ahead of it. Alex motioned to Jeremy and Melissa to hide behind a nearby crate. He let the mammoth pass, and the bolted for the service elevator. When they were in, he slammed the button. He didn't know where the mammoth had gone, but he didn't care.

_**Gabe, Michael, and Kobe**_

The mammoth busted through the wall near them in the stairwell, making Gabe almost shit himself. He kept yelling at Kobe and Michael to move, but he knew Michael was lagging behind. They busted through the door to the main deck, and Gabe made a split second decision he knew he would probably regret.

"Kobe, get him to the helicopter, I'll distract the mammoth!" he yelled.

Kobe nodded and led Michael to the helicopter. He sat Michael in it and began to dress his wound, thanking the lord they were in a medical transportation helicopter. He grabbed gauze and wrapped it around the wound. He took a syringe and filled it with morphine, sticking it directly into Michael's intact arm, hitting a vein. That was basically all he knew how to do- he wasn't exactly trained in first aid. He laid Michael down and began to shoot the incoming horde.

_They better hurry the fuck up,_ he thought.

_**Alex, Jeremy, and Melissa**_

The service elevator took them to the kitchen in the galley.

"Follow me I know the way," Jeremy said. "It's right out this way through the cafetorium. There are doors directly onto the main deck. We will literally be in front of the copter when we exit."

Alex nodded, shooting a few more infected, coming to realize that he was on his last mag. It didn't matter- they were home free.

Jeremy led them through the cafetorium, and they busted through the door, and just as Jeremy had said, the helipad was right in front of them. Alex thanked God and hopped into the helicopter's passenger seat. Melissa got into the back, and Jeremy got in the pilot seat. He started up the chopper when Alex realized something.

"Where the fuck is Gabe?"

_**Gabe**_

_Shit, shit, SHIT_ he thought, as he sprinted down the deck. He was going to circle around the boat and get to the copter when a horde had exited from the cabins. He was blocked off from the copter by the mammoth and was busy shooting the horde that was rushing him. He heard the copter starting up and knew he was almost out of time.

He looked to his side and saw a ladder that led to the top of the cabins. _It'll have to do_.

He jumped on it and climbed as fast as his legs would allow him to move, reaching the top. The copter lifted into the air. Gabe could only pray that they saw him.

Gabe almost cried when he saw the copter turn and head towards him. Jeremy made it hover near him, and he jumped for it. Kobe reached out and grabbed his right arm, Melissa his left. They pulled him into the copter, and he couldn't help but laugh. "That was some crazy shit, man." He said.

The survivors looked out over the water into the night, watching the ship sink in the moonlight.

"Good riddance." Michael grunted.


End file.
